The Origins of Moriori culture

The origins of moriori and the culture that they
have and that they came from. Culture is everything.

The Moriori are the indigenous
people of Rēkohu (Chatham Island) and Rangiaotea (Pitt Island), the two
largest islands in the Chatham group, 767 km south-east of mainland New
Zealand. It was once believed that Moriori were a Melanesian people, but
it is now thought that they share the same Polynesian ancestry as Maori
people.

Current research also indicates
that Moriori came to the Chatham Islands from New Zealand about 1500.
Moriori traditions, however, hold that there were people on the island
before the canoe voyagers arrived.

The origins of moriori and the culture that
they have and that they came from. Culture is everything.

The dawn of existence
(Ko matangi-ao)

Moriori creation stories tell of how in
the beginning Rangi (the heavens) and Papa (the earth) dwelt in
darkness. As Rangi clung to Papa, the spirit Rangitokona arose and asked
them to separate. They refused, so Rangitokona pushed them apart and
propped Rangi up with 10 pillars, one above the other. This was his
incantation:

Rangitokona prop up
the heaven, Rangitokona prop up the morning. The pillar stands in the
baldness of heaven, in the bare part of heaven. The pillar stands, the
pillar – the pillar stands, the pillar of heaven.

Then for the first time there was light,
and the world came into being. Rangitokona heaped up earth to make the
first man, called Tū. This is part of the incantation:

… heap it in the
waving of the tree, heap it in the pattern of the tree, heap it in the
finishing of the tree, heap it, it grows; heap it, it lives; the heaven
lives, e! Stem heaped up, stem heaped up, let the heaven stand which
lives.

The descendants of Tū were numerous. The
first group, called ‘heaven born’, spanned 30 generations. A group of
ancestors spanning 26 generations came next. Then the ancestor Te
Ao-mārama (the world of light) was born. His son was Rongomaiwhenua.

The ancestor Rongomaiwhenua

The name
Rongomaiwhenua means ‘land god’ (and also ‘peace to the land’, and ‘song
of the land’).

Rongomaiwhenua
had a brother, Rongomaitere (‘ocean god’), who according to tradition
traveled to New Zealand, providing sailing directions for the return
journey by later generations.

According to
Moriori, the descendants of Rongomaiwhenua belonged to a race called
Hamata.

They were
described as ‘no ro hunu ake’ (sprung from the earth).

They were
said to be very tall, and living on Rēkohu when the first visitor, Kahu,
arrived.

In other
theories they were descendants of Kahu’s crew or a previous migration.

The origins of moriori and the culture that
they have and that they came from. Culture is everything.

Kahu, the first visitor

Kahu, captain of the Tāne canoe, was the
first recorded arrival from Hawaiki – the homeland in Polynesia, which
was also the origin of the Māori of mainland New Zealand. He found
Rēkohu and its adjacent islands in an unsettled state, and is said to
have joined up their disparate parts and anchored them in their
permanent positions. He arrived at the south-west corner of Rēkohu, and
left the canoe to travel on foot.

In some accounts Kahu met two people, Kahuti and Te
Akaroroa, at Kāingaroa in the north. He planted fern root, and also
kūmara (sweet potato), but found this would not grow. Disliking Rēkohu,
Kahu returned to Hawaiki.

The migrations from Hawaiki

The first
migration

In Hawaiki, the ancient Polynesian homeland, warfare escalated between
the Wheteina and Rauru tribes. It was sparked off in part by a lovers’
spat, which ended in the death of one partner. This led to the hurried
escape of the Wheteina people and their allies. The Rangimata and Rangihoua canoes
were built during the fighting, but the Rangihoua was not
completed before launching. Both canoes arrived at Rēkohu (Chatham
Island), but the captain of the Rangihoua, along
with most of the crew and their priest, died on the voyage. The canoe
was wrecked on landing.

The Rangimata
landed safely on the north-east coast of Rēkohu, and the crew planted
kopi (karaka) berries at Wairarapa. They stopped at several points
around the island and talked to the inhabitants, the Hamata people. The
Hamata explained that their sealskin garments were much warmer than the
migrants’ clothes. The
Rangimata was finally wrecked at Te Awapātiki, but the
remaining crew went to other parts of the islands and lived there
peacefully.

The origins of moriori and the culture that
they have and that they came from. Culture is everything.

The second migration

Moe, leader
of the Rauru tribe, had been a youngster when the Rangimata and Rangihoua canoes
set out. On reaching maturity (he was said to have ‘a bald patch on his
head’) he captained the canoe Oropuke on a second
migration from Hawaiki to Rēkohu. Before Moe left Hawaiki with his
family and crew, his grandfather Horopapa told him to stop killing and
live in peace.

On Rēkohu
the tribes did live together for a time, but fighting broke out again
and spread to Rangiaotea (Pitt Island). It is said that the conflict
ended when Moe and his people were burnt in their huts at night. In
other accounts Moe returned to Hawaiki, and yet another story says the
Oropuke was
wrecked on the cliffs of Rēkohu.

Nunuku’s Law

At this time,
Nunuku-whenua, a high-ranking chief (said by Moriori to be one of the
Hamata tribe and also related to Moe) forbade murder and the eating of
human flesh. He proclaimed to the combatants, ‘From now and forever,
never again let there be war as this day has seen!’ This covenant, known
as Nunuku’s Law, was accompanied by Nunuku’s Curse: ‘May your bowels rot
the day you disobey’.

The origins of moriori and the culture that
they have and that they came from. Culture is everything.

After the conflict
among the tribes in the Chatham Islands was resolved, Moriori lived
peacefully there for over 600 years, developing a unique culture.

Rangiauria (right): Black
Rock, as it is locally known is the Basalt column named after the island
on which it is found. Rangiauria is the Island first settled by early
Moriori.